House hands toll road a setback

By: EDWARD SIFUENTES and DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writers | Thursday, May 10, 2007 9:58 PM PDT ∞

Proponents of a six-lane toll road running through San Onofre State Beach said they were handed a severe a setback Thursday when a U.S. House committee voted in favor of an amendment requiring the project to adhere to more restrictive state regulations.

The amendment, inserted into a defense spending bill, would eliminate previous legislation that exempts the toll-road project from state laws that could block its construction.

A coalition of environmental groups oppose the project, known as the Foothill South toll road, because it would cut through the park, a popular spot for campers, surfers and environmentalists. Those who support the toll road say it will ease traffic through south Orange County.

Jennifer Seaton, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Corridor Agencies, the Orange County agency planning to build the final 16-mile leg of the Highway 241 toll road that would cross four miles of the park, said the new amendment could become a roadblock.

"It's certainly a significant setback," Seaton said. "It will potentially make it a lot more difficult to build this road. And it jeopardizes 20 years of careful environmental planing. It could definitely add time. It could add money. It could torpedo the project."

Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego, wrote the amendment that could block the project. A spokesman for Davis said the congresswoman wants the project to abide by the same rules as other road projects.

"She's not trying to kill the project," said Aaron Hunter, a spokesman for Davis. "She wants them to follow the same rules as everybody."

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, a road supporter whose district includes the proposed toll road area, said the amendment could endanger the project.

"Her amendment, if it stands, threatens to deny the residents of Southern California the benefits of an important regional transportation asset," Issa said in a written statement.

The measure passed on a partisan 30-27 vote in the Armed Services Committee. It will now move to the House floor before going to the Senate.

A spokeswoman for an environmental group opposing the project said the amendment was a positive step.

"What this says is, this project has to abide by all state laws like all other transportation projects in the state," said Traci Verardo, director of legislation and policy for the California State Parks Foundation in Sacramento.

The foundation is an advocacy group that lobbies for or against projects depending their impacts on state parks.

"There are a lot of hurdles in front of this (highway) project," Verardo said. "And this makes it clear that there will be no fast track for this toll road. It is not a done deal."

Seaton, of the transportation agency, said planners had always intended to seek permission from the California Coastal Commission and other state agencies to build the highway.

"We haven't avoided any of the state processes," she said.

But Seaton said agency officials had been counting on the option of challenging an unfavorable state decision on the grounds that they had received federal approval for a project that is on federal land. The state park is leased from Camp Pendleton.

"This muddies the waters a little bit, and sets up a situation where a state decision could potentially prevent the construction of the road," Seaton said.

That's the way it should be, Verardo, of the foundation, contended.

"A project like this should not get special treatment," she said.

The foundation acts as a watchdog for California's extensive system of 278 state parks, including several prominent ones in San Diego County, that span 1.5 million acres.

The 600,000-acre Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in eastern San Diego County is the largest in the system, and for that matter the largest state park in the continental U.S. San Onofre State Beach in North County is California's fifth-most visited state park.

Verardo said the group views the toll road's extension as one of the most serious threats to parks anywhere in the state.

"It would, in our minds, completely take the park off-line," Verardo said. "It bisects the entire park. It's hard for us to imagine how visitors to this park could continue to have a natural experience, to experience solitude, with a six-lane toll road running next to San Mateo Campground."

She said the road would run on top of archaeological resources, habitat for 11 imperiled species and a scenic canyon popular with hikers and bird watchers.

Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, who supports the road, said the amendment was a serious blow to the project and blasted Davis for recommending it.

"I am appalled by the fact that a member of Congress, who's not from Orange County, is trying to stop a key regional transportation project at the behest of special interest groups and in spite the project's strong support among local elected officials," Calvert said in a statement.

-- Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.

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